1. Cascadia Rising 2022 Exercise Communications Discussion

2. Cascadia Rising 2016 Exercise Scenario
CSZ 9.0M Earthquake and resulting Tsunami
Modelled impacts:
Direct Impact to 3 States and British Columbia
Complete rupture of the 700-mile Fault Line
Impacts affecting over 140,000 square miles
Ground shaking lasts up to 5 minutes
Numerous aftershocks with several of M7.0+
Modelled estimates: 1,100 fatalities from earthquake; 13,000 fatalities from tsunami; 24,000 injured.

3. Exercise Overview
Exercise Dates: June 13-17, 2022 (tentative)
Exercise Type: Functional Exercise
Participants:
TBD
Communications Play:
There will not be a major communications outage during the exercise

4. Communications – How bad could it be?
564 cell towers in OR and WA
60% of cell towers sustain medium to high damage
380 AM/FM radio stations in OR and WA
75% of radio station facilities sustain medium to high damage
Communications further deteriorates 8 to 12 hours after initiating event
High volume calls crash phone lines
Damaged undersea transpacific cables cause further disruptions

5. Communications – So what is our role?
Still will be a player
Working with Regional Administrator to do a separate communications based exercise(s)
Ramp up activities
Workshops
TTXs
Functional Exercises

6. Communications – What we saw in 2016
Whole community ESF-2 (sort of…)
Coordination with Industry (some…)
Situational Awareness (in silos…)
Frequency Management (what management?)
How to use alternative communications (ish)
Prioritization (we are all important)
No real injects
Communication outages without consequences

7. Communications – Way ahead?
Workshops and Trainings
Technician level
Operator level
EOC level
Table Top Exercises
LOTS of them
Functional Exercises

8. COMM-X Portal Beta Release

9. Partnership
Region X Regional Emergency Communications Coordination Working Group (RECCWG)
National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) Planning Training and Exercise (PTE) Committee
Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Emergency Communications Division (ECD)
National Coordination Center for Communications (NCC)/Emergency Support Function 2 (ESF-2)

10. What is the COMM-X Portal?
Joint Training and Exercise Portal for Emergency Communications – A One- Stop-Shop for Emergency Communications Training and Exercise resources
Sharing resources, ideas, class space, events -
Calendar of Events
Points of Contact
Announcements & News
Links
Lessons Learned
Regional and State Resources
And…

11. …Documents Exercise Plans Maps SOPs/CONOPs Exercise Evaluation Guides
After Action Reports
Policy and Authorities
MSEL/Injects
State & Local Plans
Lessons Learned
Training Curricula
Scenarios
Observations/Anecdotes
Photos & Illustrations
Field Guides
TTX SITMANs
Best Practices
Exercises-in-a-box
Suggestions welcome!
I’ve said this before – a web resource is only as good as it’s content.

12. This is a HSIN system. You need a HSIN account and then you need to be added to the ESF-2 Communications Community of Interest. We have a two sheeter. Please pick one up.
Content management – My office will manage the national page in partnership with NCC and other Federal Agencies
Regional management – Our goal is that each region will manage it’s announcements, calendars, POCs. Laura’s tidbits , newsletters. You know your regions.

13. National Landing Page
- There is information here that you won’t find on the Region X site, so make sure your users link to COMM-X goes to this Page
- There are links to Federal and National resources such as HSEEP, National Exercise Program, etc.
- There is also a lot of duplication.
Region X Page
- Resources should be region-specific
- BUT all users can see this site – why limit yourself?
- Customization. We can add custom functionality. (Limited)

14. A new look at a communications TTX
The COMM-X Game
A new look at a communications TTX

15. Why Create a Game? Need for more communications exercises
Whole community communications
Address multiple jurisdiction levels
TTXs can be boring
How do you test plans?
Does not require a special facilitator
Everyone loves to play a game

16. Game Pieces Hexi Game Board Key Infrastructure Hexi Resources
School
Police
Fire
Cell
Hexi Game Board
Key Infrastructure Hexi
Resources
Damage Points
Fuel Cans
Dice
Scenario Cards
Money
Cell
Police
School
LMR
Fire
HOSP
Cell
EOC
LMR
School
Cent
Office
HOSP
Fire
Fire
Police
Cell
Police
Cell

17. Key Infrastructure Hexi
Different Infrastructure
Police stations, Fire stations
Schools, Hospitals, PSAPs
Cell and LMR Towers
Airports, Central Offices
Damage Points
1-7 levels of damage
Voice and Data
Fuel
Fuel storage on site for resources F V D
PSAP

18. Resources VSAT Satellite Phone Satcolt Microwave Tower Repair Truck
Different types of resources
Each costs $
Each give certain advantages
“Deploys” from the EOC
Moves a space a turn
Requires fuel
Satellite Phone
Satcolt
Microwave Tower
Repair Truck
The COMM-X Game

19. How to Play – Set up Group play Establish your jurisdiction
Determine levels of damage
Determine initial assets
Determine initial funding

20. How to Play – Playing Scenario Card Roll the dice Earn $
Move resources
Purchase resources & Fuel
The COMM-X Game

21. How to Play – Scenario Cards
Situation
Effect
Mitigation

22. How to Play – Special Scenario Cards

23. How to Play – Roadblocks and Opportunities
FREE FUEL
Get 20 Fuel Cans Free! ?

24. How to Play – How to “win”
Your team fixes all comms infrastructure
Time has expired
The purpose if to help players understand their jurisdictional plans and available resources; to stimulate conversations; and to understand resource limitations and priorities in a non-stress environment

25. How to request Cost of playing? Just the shipping.
Request thru the Region X RECC
Includes playbook, two game boards, dice, play money, resources, fuel cans, infrastructure hexis and resource game pieces
You provide the people and the plans!
Available soon!

26. Cascadia Rising 2022 Exercise June 13-17, 2022
Laura Goudreau, FEMA Region X